So Cold
by usernamehacked
Summary: Winter Soldier AU! She died. Batman saw it. It, meaning the whole scene where that red light hit her and exploded the spot where she had been standing. But, years later, an assassin suddenly appears and Batman realizes, she's not dead. He needs to save Diana. But... how can he do this without breaking?
1. chapter 1

**A/N:**

 **Winter Soldier AU! I tried to not copy a lot from the original and I'm really sorry if it looks too much like the original. I really did try to make this an AU but still leave enough detail to make this into my own story.**

 **I made up the machine and the serum. The serum is for wiping out memories and making it easier to install commands to a person and the machine is for injecting the serum 'cause it would be so weird if a serum like that could just be injected through a syringe.**

 **The Omega War is also something I made up and if something really does exist then I don't intend to start making relations. Just imagine this big, world-changing war and that's it.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **SO COLD**

My breathing hitches when I see her. The same twin blue storms still rage behind those eyes but not quite so. Today, they were silent yet still unable to hide the emotions within; the want to subdue, the lust for killing, the need to accomplish whatever disgusting mission they programmed in her. The Diana before all this had a fiery spirit and a headstrong soul; jumping into action and thinking of a plan along the way, not caring about anything but saving everyone. But now, she was calculative. Careful yet deadly; a trained murderer. An assassin. She is the Winter Soldier.

"You're alive.", I whisper to her as a question, to myself as a conviction. I knew she wasn't going to answer. I grip the halfmask harder, the same halfmask I snatched away moments ago, the halfmask which concealed the Winter Soldier's identity and her perfect face from me for four years. "How?", I ask again, knowing it would be fruitless but still hoping.

I feel her move. Her foot moved a little, but I was still able to catch the subtle movement. The wind blew up on the rooftop I had trapped her, covering her regal features with her unbound messy dark locks. I was so captivated at how much I missed gazing at her raven hair and longed to run my fingers through them again that I almost didn't catch her snatch a gun from her holster and fire at me.

I rolled away, my black cape swiftly trailing behind me. My reflexes drew a batarang from my utility belt and I could feel the familiar push and pull of my muscles as I threw the weapon in retaliation. She extended her arm and blocked the batarang with her gauntlet, the armband glistening under the sun as the batarang ricocheted off it.

Diana moved to the edge of the rooftop but it didn't surprise me because I knew, even without her powers, she would do anything to escape... including jumping off a 50-floor building. But I had to ask her something before she disappears again.

"Diana,", I call and my heart tightens at how she abruptly paused when I did. "Do you know who you are?"

She looks back a little, showing me the dangerous blue gleam in her eyes, showing me the eyes of the Winter Soldier, and then she jumps off the building. I ran to the side, gripping the edge where she stood moments ago, and I almost fell as I looked for her below. But there was no trace of her, like snow after winter.

I search the rooftop for something, anything, she might have left behind, crumbs of clues and marks or traces, and then I see it, my hope, my light in the dark. There was her red star earring on the edge of the rooftop.

 **Watchtower**

"What happened out there, Batman?", Superman bombards me with questions regarding my encounter with the Winter Soldier in Gotham City. The Winter Soldier was our top priority after he, or _she_ (the others still didn't know the person behind the mask was our lost princess) assassinated the lead scientist of the Project Youth roster and then destroyed the lab and all progress they made for the succession of the project. Project Youth was about formulating a serum that could inject metahuman abilities to regular soldiers so they could contribute a larger effort in protecting the country against extraterrestrial intruders, seeing as how useless the Force has become in every battle against aliens and magical monsters. And there will come a day when the Justice League would be too short of members to defend the entire world. Thus, welcome, Project Youth.

But, now, all those theories of formulating that special serum has burned to ashes thanks to the Winter Soldier who came out of the blue one day.

Normally, I wouldn't share about my recent exploits in Gotham with the League but I thought they would like to hear of this so here we all are now except for the one who we all thought had died in action four years ago. Except for me. I always knew she was alive, I just didn't know where.

"I know who the Winter Soldier is.", I say.

Shayera slams her fist on the table. "Who's the bitch?", she growls. Our first encounter with the Winter Soldier, where three of the Original 7 were present, had left her pride so severely wounded. She is still sporting the cast on the arm Diana twisted, and she wants nothing more than to return the favor. I secretly wonder if she would still like to return the favor once she finds out who her nemesis really is.

I look straight in her green pools and simply answer, "Diana."

Her eyes widen and she seems to have stopped breathing when she falls to her chair, her mouth slightly opening. John reacts differently. "Diana died in the Omega War.", and then he hesitantly adds. "She died saving you."

My mind almost escapes back to the moment I suddenly see her body in front of me, being engulfed in red light, but I held it tight. I didn't want to recall those days. Not now that I have yet to bring her back.

I was about to tell them of the encounter on the rooftop when Clark suddenly has his hands fisted on the collar of my suit. His eyes were almost red as he lifts me off the ground simultaneously holding back tears. "Why didn't you bring her back?", he asks in a strained voice, each word ending with a painful edge. I knew that if he were someone else and not the mild-mannered farmboy that was Clark Kent, he would have blown my head off already.

"I couldn't.", I say, trying to hide the defeated tone that suddenly laces my voice. "She doesn't remember anything."

"Then that means Diana killed all those people and destroyed the lab.", Wally says and it felt weird having to hear a morose version of his voice rather than the usual chipper tone. "Who did this to her?", he asks almost angrily.

"We have to find Diana.", J'onn states with finality. He was so quiet at the end of the table that I could see the others jump when he suddenly spoke, but I knew that this revelation affected J'onn as much as it did to me, maybe even more. If there was one person in the League that an outcast alien without any knowledge about the world he would protect could go to, then it was another outcast foreigner facing similar problems and a mind as wise as his.

"How do we do that?", John speaks. "The Winter Soldier is like a shadow. Once she's done, she instantly disappears."

I palm the red earring I have been holding ever since I picked it up. "I have a clue."

I allow my gauntlet to open, revealing the shiny bloodred star in the middle of my hand and it almost leaves Shayera to tears. "Diana...", she breathlessly whispers.

"Before she left, I asked her if she still knew who she was.", my eyes look at the red star that was almost smiling at me. "She left me this."

"So she remembers who she is and she's trying to give you a signal.", Clark says with a hint of hope in his voice.

"Or maybe it was with her when she became the Winter Soldier and she doesn't know what that's about so she left it and decided to leave everything about her past life with it too.", Wally suggests.

We all glare at him but Shayera's the one who threw her mace at him and almost hits Wally. "You're supposed to be the optimistic one, Wally."

J'onn turns back all the attention to me. "So you can find her."

I go through all of them, my eyes looking deeply into each of theirs and I can see how much responsibility they have given me. They were so broken and defeated when they found out Diana had died without leaving even a piece of her uniform to bury her memory with, and they're broken once again when they found out Diana was alive but with no memories and being tortured into killing people. Each of them needed Diana to return. The lost princess means something to them.

And I am the one they asked to bring her back; the one who needed Diana the most.

"I will."

 **Someone Else's POV**

My fingers gently touch the wound on her arm, the one I just cleaned. Without most of her metapowers, a wound that normally could have taken ten minutes to heal with her superhuman healing was now closing in a very slow pace that the wound was still there when she returned to me. "How are you?"

Her voice comes out clear and as strong as ever. "Fine."

I look at the bandaged wound again. The Batman actually hit her. He was a problem I'd have to take care of soon. I was watching from the camera hidden in her earring so I saw the moment the batarang hit her on the arm while they were still chasing each other from roof to roof. The wound was probably nothing for her but I wanted her to be in perfect condition always. She is my best success by far.

The virtuous Wonder Woman, with a bottle of _my_ serum, was turned into the assassin I needed. Unfortunately, the serum also negated her ability to fly and weakened her skill to heal but she still has her metahuman strength, and combined with the years, _centuries,_ of training different fighting styles aside from the Greek styles she has already mastered... perfect!

I look at my masterpiece again as she stands in front of me. She was clad in a black suit that covered her from her toes to her neck. She still had her gauntlets, something I would never waste on throwing away, but her lasso was stored somewhere else. It was a dangerous weapon. If she touches it even once, then the illusion is over and the serum would stop taking effect. The truth will be revealed.

I tell her to turn to the side and she does, revealing what I love most about her ensemble; the bloodred star glowing darkly on the sleeve of her right arm. I do realize that the star was also her symbol, but this one was in a deeper shade of red. A red you can only see when you spill someone else's blood.

We go inside an adjacent room where scientists are scurrying around and preparing the machine I created that would inject more of the serum inside her. I lead her inside it but she flinches a little at the sight of it and this greatly alarms me. This has never happened before. Has she gained consciousness of what the machine could do to her?

She goes in anyway. When the locks click into place, I order the scientist operating the machine to double the serum used. That little flinch still alarms me.

The machine glows blue in the dimly lit room and a moment later, I hear it; a sound I do not wish to hear but a sound telling me that I have succeeded once again. The machine worked and her screams fill the room. Her screams of pain as more of the formula enters her body are banners of my success. Each dosage of my serum have made the mighty Wonder Woman my assassin. She writhes inside the machine and she struggles against the binds but while inside the machine, her powers are gone.

I smile a little. "Don't worry, Agent Diana Prince. The pain will end soon.", but I know it would last a little longer than usual because of the additional serum. "And when it does, I already have your next mission..."

"...end the Batman."

 **A/N:**

 **This idea has been bothering me for _days_ and it feels real great to write it out. The feeling when you complete something is _amazing._**

 **And, yes, I'm a sicko. Why'd I do that to Diana and not Bruce? 'Cause I believe the world would end if Bruce becomes a brainwashed soldier assassin. And besides, he probably has a contigency plan for this sorta thing. And if he doesn't, then Alfred probably does. And besides, the story would be over in a second as soon as Diana catches Bruce in her lasso. I believe the lasso has the power to negate brainwashing.**

 **But the idea of Diana trying to _not-brainwash_ Bruce is not rejected.**

 **If you like it, I could continue** **this. I only meant for this to be a scene where Bruce sees Diana as the Winter Soldier and then the Watchtower scene was added and before I knew it, I also put in that sick last scene and then I have all these scenarios in my head that could just continue this story but my problem is which of these should I use?**

 **So before the AN becomes longer than the story, I'm ending it here. Thank you!**


	2. chapter 2

**A/N:**

 **I was really happy to see reviews for this story. You guys encourage me and I'd really be glad to see more reviews. Thank you!**

 **SO COLD**

 _"Agent Prince, how are you feeling?", a man in a labcoat asked._

 _"Urgh, I- I'm--"_

 _"How are you feeling?", he repeated with more force._

 _"Fine.", Diana forced out._

Diana rests her knees against the cool cemented surface of a roof's edge, her fingers gently tracing the patterns carved into one of the pillars built for decoration. Greek patterns. Intriguing yet complex.

 _"Are you ready for your next mission?", the man asked again._

 _"Yes.", and Diana is sure of that._

 _He showed her a file. In big bold letters, a name read:_

 ** _BATMAN_**

Her eyes are unfocused, tired, weary, as she looks at the street below. No one. No one is there. No lights turned on. No people walking by. It almost feels like...

...emptiness.

 _The name rang a bell. A bell buried so deep in her mind, but a bell no less. She stared at the capitals of the word. She found her voice._

 _"Who is he?"_

 _The man answered curtly, "A vigilante in Gotham. You'll learn more in the file. The Lead wants you to kill him."_

 _"She wants me to kill him?"_

 _"Yes. Her orders came while you were still in the machine, just right after you two talked inside her office."_

 _Her head began to sting a little. "But--"_

Diana recalls the file, the target, the mission. Kill Batman.

She has killed before. What made this one different? She knows that the answer lies deep inside her. But she also knows she doesn't want to hear it...

... if the headaches are any indication.

 _"Why? Can't you deliver?"_

 _"No!", she directly objected. She can do it, she knew. "Just-- Why him?"_

 _The simple answer, "He interferres with our operations."_

 _Diana dug deeper in her mind. She_ knows _this man. But it's like an electric fence forces her out of the hidden sections of her thoughts. When she moves, it'll sting. It'll hurt. So instead, she turned to the man in a white coat. "I know him."_

 _The man raised an eyebrow, "Yes, you have encountered him once at Gotham when you were assigned to steal government intel on more projects related to Project Youth. Congratulations, by the way, for the success."_

 _"No," she placed a hand on her forehead, the pain getting stronger. "I_ know _him._

 _The man only looked._

Kill Batman.

Somehow, that sounds wrong. That sounds ridiculous. That sounds like going against who she is.

But who is she really?

She ignores that thought. She's the anti-Project Youth. Their organization's counter against the government's thughtless ideas.

 _The man_ _repeated the objective with a harder stare, "The Lead wants you to kill the Batman. You were made to deliver so deliver."_

 _Diana resigned, knowing that she can't object her, the Lead, the creator of this entire organization. "Yes."_

She studies the city spread out before her like a map, the objective clear in her mind. Diana gets ready to jump.

She repeats the mission in her head like a mantra.

Kill Batman.

Kill Batman.

Kill Batman.

Kill Batma--

Kill Bat--

Kill Br--

This time, the pain is too much. Blood runs out of her nose, dripping to the dark material of her suit.

She jumps to the city anyway. _Kill Batman._

 **A/N:**

 **Thank you! Let's all watch _Wonder Woman,_ yeah? **


	3. chapter 3

**A/N:**

 **I edited a part from chapter 2. If you've read it before this update then you must have noticed one paragraph that only had the words** _The man_ **in it. That was actually supposed to be an entire dialogue followed by another one and then by another paragraph. They were part of my last changes to the chapter, I guess it wasn't saved.**

 **Here's the 3rd chapter! Please leave a review, it means a lot to me. Thank you!**

 **SO COLD**

When he threw the batarang, he expected the sudden explosion as it stuck to the wall. What he didn't expect was the state of the person behind the wall. The Penguin dangled from the ceiling, a rope tying his torso. When he saw the dark vigilante, he couldn't stop himself from crying.

"Batman...! S-save... me...", he pleaded, eyes wide with fear and sweat rolling down his face. The Batman could not believe that the rogue had been reduced into this mass of shivering sweating meat slighty swinging in front of him. He studied the villain, checking for any sign of torture. Surely, the Penguin must have caught himself in trouble and he was beaten for it. What bothered the dark vigilante was that he seemed unharmed.

"I'm supposed to lock you in.", came the rough reply. The Batman looked at the scene again, hoping he could figure out who did this. He did not expect the Penguin to get tied up on his own turf. He had thought that this mystery was already solved, but it looked like an outside force interferred with this case.

"No...! You need to save me! O-or, you won't be able to save yourself.", the Penguin cried. Batman looked at him strangely. The Penguin continued in a meek voice, a little strangled cry from a terrorized creature. _"It's coming for you."_

Batman stiffened. He looked above where the rope was tied, but, no, it wasn't tied. Under the lenses, Bruce's eyes widened. The Winter Soldier was holding the rope with one fingerless gloved hand, her eyes glowing dangerously blue in the darkness that it made Bruce unsure how he missed them.

She let go of the rope, allowing the Penguin to drop to the ground like a sack of meat, before she herself dropped to his level in one single graceful movement. He waited for her to look him in the eye, to once again see those blue flares that he very much wanted to be beside him again. But she didn't waste time to take her gun and shoot at him in an almost point blank range.

Bruce barely dodged, the bullet passing through his shoulder instead of going through his heart. He didn't waste time to check the gunshot wound. The vigilante quickly moved to Diana, kicking the gun out of her hands and sending it clattering to the floor. He then swept Diana under her knees, sending her falling to the ground. Batman swiftly grappled to the beams above them where her movements may be limited. He knew that a single hit from her could break his bones, or even cause him his death.

Knowing all this, he could not allow her to kill him, because he knew if that happened, when all this will be over, _and it will be_ , she would never forgive herself.

Diana stood again, her eyes scanning the crisscrossed beams where she knew Bruce was hiding behind the shadows. The Batman watched with vigilant eyes as she ran to a stack of crates, hopping on one wooden box to another like a graceful mountain goat and jumping high enough on a crate that she could grab one of the rusty beams and pull herself up.

Bruce watched her armbands glisten despite the shroud of darkness as she confidently made her way to one intersection of beams right where he roosted. The former Amazon princess immediately jumped to the intersection, causing the web of beams to creak loudly. Bruce backed away, silently waiting for her first attack.

Deep inside, he expected the right hook, quickly moving to the side to avoid the deadly punch. He also expected her to turn and jam him with her elbow. He let his muscle memory take over and allow his gloved hands to carefully catch the attack and push her back. He knew what they were doing. He knew that this was their routine. Once upon a time, they trained together with the same sequence of movements at the Watchtower or at the Batcave or even at the Embassy's gym over and over again until they could do it with their eyes closed.

This was their dance.

Diana aimed to kick him at his head but Bruce ducked, only getting back up to jab her. The punch was true as it hit her jaw. He watched as blood started dripping from her lips. When she spat, a dark red blotch fell somewhere on the dusty cemented floor of the warehouse.

The Winter Soldier focused on him again, her emotion still bland. Diana grabbed his arm, twisted it, and spun him around. Bruce flew to a section of the warehouse, his back hitting the wall with a resounding thud.

The pain made him groan and made his ears ring, and he almost fell as he lost his balance. He tried to move his arm making him grunt against the difficulty. He couldn't move it. The arm that had the gunshot wound was also the arm that was twisted. He was slightly relieved that the other was still in good condition.

 _Looks like I have to dance one-handed. Will you mind, Princess?_

Diana approached him and he forced himself to get up. They continued their fight with flying fists and precise kicks. Diana did a perfectly balanced roundhouse kick which might have claimed Bruce's head had he not ducked in time. She followed the lethal attack with a quick succession of punches the Batman knew he couldn't simply block.

Batman tried to trip her, make her lose her balance on the narrow arena they had, and he almost thought he did when she started to fall, but his plan backfired when the Winter Soldier grabbed his dark boot, carrying him along with her and then threw him by the foot in midair. Batman landed on a pile that might have been a stack of crates but now were a load of broken wood, while in front of him, Diana gracefully landed on her knees, her own dark boots making a resonating sound against the cemented ground.

Bruce felt the mindwashed Amazon take him by the collar of his cape and lift him up to meet her at eye level. He was too tired and exhausted to even focus his vision on her. The Winter Soldier then threw him to the center of the warehouse, calmly setting her eyes on him as the dark Bat skidded against the floor and stopped when his back hit another pile of crates.

Out of the corner of her vision, she caught the familiar sight of her handgun. She retrieved the weapon and made her way to the defeated Bat. The gun was immediately aimed at his head in point blank range, not something one could even have the chance of avoiding, especially not a broken man.

Gasping, Bruce made great effort to stop her, not accepting to die, not before he could save the beloved princess, not even allowing himself to think that he would die by the hands of the woman who he was supposed to save.

In one shaky breath, "...Diana..."

Silence. Like time stopped moving.

The gun dropped, the arm holding the gun suddenly shaking. Then, as if someone controlled it with a string, it rose again with the same target in front of it. Bruce almost thought he was done for. But it suddenly dropped, then rose, then dropped, and rose again, then dropped.

Bruce only stared mesmerized at the scene happening in front of him.

And finally...

"AAAAAAARGH!", Diana screamed frustratedly. She swiftly pointed the gun at her own left arm and, as Bruce watched with surprised eyes, pulled the trigger without hesitation.

He heard her hiss softly when she dropped the gun and covered her bleeding arm. He couldn't move. What the hell just happened?

Diana?

She is still there.

Somewhere in that hurricane of a mind where a storm continues to rage as strong as it is blank.

Diana.

Who shot herself so she can override the command that was, as it is, to assassinate him.

Diana!

Whom he loved so dearly that he did not know if he should feel happy or angry or relieved or worried that she shot herself.

She shot herself!

"Diana!", he yelled. She turned, _she turned,_ _responded._ Her blue eyes were confused, strands from her hair covering them. She shot herself and, but, _still_ she responded.

"I-I don't... who--", she suddenly stopped, a little whine coming out from her. The hand she had on her arm flew to her head, blood and all. She closed her eyes shortly, resembling someone with a headache.

The Batman, broken and bloodied as he is, held his breath in fear that he might disturb the former Wonder Woman, who was standing in front of him with a bloody mouth and a forehead covered in her own sticky red blood, from remembering. Remembering not what she did as a hypnotized emotionless super murderer, but who she was as a daunting princess, an inspiring woman, and an amazing hero.

Bruce tried reaching out, really tried, but she was gone before he even propped himself up with one arm.

He couldn't help but smash his fist against the hard ground knowing that he did break a few bones in his hand. "DAMN IT!", he bit in frustration. He pressed a button hidden on his cowl. "Alfred," Bruce began, his voice tired and angrier than usual, "Get the Batmobile in my location."

Weary, the Batman dropped on the pile of broken wood. He scanned the room again, noticing something, or _someone,_ missing. Bruce wanted to break his other hand and his whole body all together.

On top of all this, the Penguin had escaped.

 **A/N:**

 **How was it? I hope you liked it. Personally, I feel that I simply lack more flesh in my writing style... Any thoughts on how to improve that**?

 **And don't forget to watch _Wonder Woman_.**

 **Hahaha, I promise I'm totally not getting paid to say that, I just really wanna heighten the hype for the movie.** **Am I even allowed to do that? I swear, the number of illegal things these days!**


End file.
